Taiwanese Chow Mein (台式炒麵）

Many many years ago, we had the best chicken chow mein (炒麵) in a tiny Chinese take-out restaurant in Woodbridge, VA. It was so good that even though Woodbridge is a well 45-minute away, we decided to visit again on one Saturday, only to find it was closed (not for business, just not open for the day yet). We never did try to go back again. To this day, we still talk about the greasy-yet-very-delicious noodles we had that day.

This past weekend, when I saw the spicy wontons in my Chinese cookbook, I also saw a mouth-watering picture of chow mein. I decided to continue my cooking extravaganza and made it yesterday for lunch. This recipe is so easy to make (and again, it is one of those recipes that you can tweak it however you like) and so tasty! Both Luke and I love it - although I stopped myself after one bowl and he went on to eat three bowls! Not to toot my own horn, but it's definitely as good as the chow mein from Woodbridge!

Taiwanese Chow Mein:

- 16oz oiled noodles (very important to use this exact noodles)
- ground pork
- dried shrimp (蝦米)
- sliced shitake mushroom (香菇)
- shredded carrots
- shredded cabbage （高麗菜)
- bean sprouts
- Chinese chives (韭菜)
- soy sauce
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup of broth

1. Blanch oiled noodles, strain
2. Heat oil, fry shitake mushrooms, dried shrimps, ground pork, cabbage, and carrots. Cook thoroughly and until soft. Add salt, pepper, and soy sauce.
3. Add broth and simmer.
4. Add noodles, bean sprouts, and chives. Mix well.
5. Serve!

*We are not a fan of bean sprouts and chives so we skipped them. In the future, I may substitute ground pork for sliced chicken or shrimps.